Courses

Courses in Political Science

This course offers an introduction to selected topics in Political Theory. It covers a range of thinkers, from the ancient Greeks to the Enlightenment thinkers of Europe and closes on a contemporary note that asks us to reflect on the theoretical underpinnings of our time. It explores the political implications and limits of texts by Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Rousseau, Mill, Burke, Marx, and Arendt, reading them in chronological order with an eye toward changes in concerns and concepts across time. May count towards European Studies minor.

An examination of major theories of comparative politics applicable to liberal democratic, communist and developing Third World systems. Theories of modernization and development, functionalism, systems analysis, dependency and underdevelopment, political economy, state-society relations, corporatism and neo-corporatism in both Western and non-Western settings. May count towards European Studies minor.

An analysis of continuity and change in world politics, focusing on the units of analysis; patterns of conflict and competition, cooperation and order, and constraint; the structure of the international system; the international agenda and emerging trends and issues such as globalization and terrorism; and the current state of world order and its future.

This course focuses on how the continuing struggle for Black political empowerment has helped influence and shape the current African American political community. An interdisciplinary approach incorporating economics, history and sociology will be used to gain an overall understanding of the African American community and its critical influence upon the American political system.

The theory and especially the practice of subnational government in the U.S. Topics include intergovernmental relations; government institutions; elections, parties, and interest groups; taxing, spending and economic development activities; and policy problems besetting state and local governments and metropolitan areas.

This course investigates multiple dimensions of the principle of equality, such as equality in nature, equality among the sexes, equality among classes and equality before the law. It puts them in the context of broader discussions of justice and interrogates the relationship between the two through a close reading of texts by Cicero, Locke, Goldman, Fanon, Nietzsche and Wendy Brown. Some of the questions raised by this course include, does an embrace of equality lead to a tolerant and socially just polity where resources and opportunity are available to all? Or does an uncritical adoption of equality lead to a stunted and conformist politics that is reluctant to accept change and restricts individual freedom?

A survey of contemporary worldviews based on value and belief systems that generate sets of attitudes and behaviors toward political institutions and processes. Ideologies such as enthno-nationalism, religious fundamentalism, terrorism, feminism, liberation theology, globalism and environmentalism are treated.

Why do the two Asian giants, India and China, with more than 38 percent of the population of the world, matter to the rest of the world at the beginning of the 21st century? What are China's superpower prospects? Will nuclear India attain great power status? What is the future of communism and the prospect of political freedom and democracy in China? Is Indian democracy stable? What are the sources of instability of Indian government? What does a weak central government mean to Indian federalism? The dynamics of ethnic minorities in China? The future of secularism in India? The nuclear dynamics in Sino-Indian relations? These questions and many others will be explored in this course.

Political systems of selected countries in Western Europe; their historical and cultural settings; parties and elections; decision-making; problems of foreign policy. Considerable attention to the European community, the movement toward economic and political integration and its impact on political systems of member countries. May count towards European Studies minor.

This course examines the different actors, interests, and institutions that aim to govern or regulate the environment and its resources. Students will learn how environmental policy has evolved over time to deal with changing needs and threats, ranging from domestic pollution issues to longer-term threats such as climate change and drought. Much of the course material will focus on environmental policy at the federal level in the US, though students will also look at more local and international efforts to address the global issue of climate change. Throughout the class, we will also examine the societal implications of environmental threats and policy in order to better understand how environmental outcomes and policies affect issues such as inequality, health, and global conflict.

Focus on the U.S. Congress. Examines rules, procedures and structures of Congress, as well as sources and motivations of legislative behavior. Emphasis is on the development of an understanding of how Congress works and why Congress as an institution and individual members of Congress function as they do.

Seeks first to develop students' understanding of the powers and imperatives of the American presidency, as well as an understanding of the president's role in the American political order. Primary attention also given to examination of presidential success in office: what makes a good president, what citizens look for in a president, what strategies and/or behaviors are more or less likely to result in successful presidencies.

The course provides an overview of some of the quantitative and qualitative research methods political scientists use to draw conclusions about the political world. It also teaches students the writing skills specific to political science. By the end of the course, it is expected that students would have learned how to find an interesting topic and pose a research question; how to obtain and analyze data (qualitative or quantitative); how to read and think critically and use various methods of inquiry--theoretical, historical, comparative, behavioral, and post-behavioral; and how to formulate a thesis statement and write a scholarly literature review. Students are required to (1) write a series of short essays that engage with a variety of research tools and methods (argument, critique, textual analysis, content analysis, discourse analysis, participant-observation method, interviews, etc.); (2) engage in peer review exercise, and (3) write a literature review, a research proposal, and/or an analytical or argumentative paper. They receive feedback from the instructor on each assignment and are expected to revise drafts in response to comments received. To satisfy the major's requirement in political science, a student must earn the grade of C+ or above in the course.

This course explores the centrality and significance of race in the modern American political system. The course covers, but is not limited to, the role of race in electoral politics, urban politics, the political and social attitudes of Americans and the debates about the scope and function of the federal government.

Analysis of civil rights and civil liberties policies in the United States and of the processes that produce those policies. Emphasis will be on policies relating to the practice of democracy (freedom of expression and associated freedoms), criminal justice, and "discrimination". Treatment of the policy process will include an examination of the roles of judicial, legislative and executive branches and the activities of interest groups.

This course focuses on the Middle East in international politics as well as the internal politics of the region. Special attention is given to the rise of the state system, the dynamics of modernization, major political movements, ideologies, religions and social and economic change.

This course is an exploration of the resurgent tradition of Muslim political thought. It begins with an examination of the canonical thinkers Al-Farabi and Ibn Khaldun and then proceeds to Hourani's account of the confrontation and engagement of Arab theorists with a largely European liberalism. Their readings, critiques, adaptations, challenges to, and expansions of liberalism remain powerful in the shaping of contemporary Muslim political thought. It then turns to an exploration of key texts of political Islam, including controversial works by Qutb and Maududi. It closes with an examination of Women and Islam through an exploration of contemporary debates surrounding the issue of veiling.

Examines the origins and nature of Bolshevik movement and the 1917 revolution; the ideological and institutional sources of the Soviet state and party structures; Stalinism as totalitarian experiment; the erosion of the Soviet system; its economic decline and crisis; the reasons for the failure of the Gorbachev reform effort; the Moscow coup and implosion of the system; subsequent Russian political and economic reforms; selected events in some CIS republics. May count towards European Studies minor.

An introduction to the similarities and unifying characteristics of heterogeneous developing nations. Emphasis on diversities to be found in different regions of the Third World. The focus is on issues and problems and not countries and regions, though case studies are used for illustrative purposes. The course covers theories and approaches to the study of the Third World; changes in the Third World (political, economic, governmental and regime); contemporary issues (hunger and famine, multinationals, foreign debt and the New International Economic Order); and Third World ideologies and movements (nonalignment, developmental socialism, anti-Americanism and Islamic revivalism).

This course surveys issues in and approaches to the study of African politics. Special emphasis is placed on the African development crisis through an accounting of varying levels of success and failure across the continent. Specific concerns include: governance, civil and interstate war, international political economy and the development of the state system.

The process of formulating and implementing American foreign policy. The development of American traditions regarding foreign policy, the main factors influencing American foreign policy since World War II and specific policies toward regions and countries of the world.

An analytical survey of global issues: their essence, management and political implications. The course starts with a theoretical framework for the study of leading global issues, such as global security, population growth, global political economy, food, ethno-nationalism, terrorism, human rights, consumption of non-renewable resources and the integrity of the environment. Institutions, values and policies are emphasized in the context of growing interdependence among nations and related issues of integration and conflict.

Contemporary problems relating to law and legal institutions in the global community. The nature, sources, and application of international law; international instruments; membership in the international community; state and non-state actors; duties and responsibilities at the global level; war and peace.